Whitehall wins Lady Lion Tournament

The Whitehall girls volleyball team have spent much of this season in the shadows of its Lehigh Valley Conference neighbors, Liberty and Central Catholic.

The Hurricanes are ranked No. 2 in the state, CCHS sixth.

Whitehall had been ranked in the Top 20 most of the fall but recently dropped out.

But the Zephyrettes may deserve a return to the rankings after winning the State College Lady Lions Tournament Saturday.

Whitehall defeated Philipsburg-Osceola 14-16, 15-8, 15-7 in the finals of the 20-team event after beating Franklin Regional 15-10, 15-5 in the quarterfinals and State College Maroon 16-14,15-11 in the semis.

The team got a number of key contributions, led by Val Korsak's three kills and 16 assists.

Last week, "Keeping in Touch" made an error in saying that Becca Young (Emmaus) was a field hockey player at Elizabethtown. She is a member of the Blue Jays' soccer team.

In fact, the junior forward leads the team with 18 points (seven goals, four assists) and she has 14 goals and 13 assists in her career. The Jays (6-6, 1-0)welcome Moravian Friday.

BARBOSA UPDATE

Five schools remain in the running for Allen star basketball player Ray Barbosa as he ponders his future school.

The Canaries' all-time leading scorer and The Morning Call's Player of the Year, has narrowed his choices to James Madison, Hofstra, Manhattan, Rider and Drexel.

He has made one official visit so far -- to James Madison. He will visit Hofstra this weekend and see The Pride's "Midnight Madness" extravaganza as practice for the 2002-2003 season begins.

According to head coach Doug Snyder, Barbosa still would like to get his choice announced by the time practice for the Allen season begins on Nov. 11.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Misericordia field hockey goalie Liz Kovalchik (Northwestern) was named Division III Goalie of the Week by the Eastern College Athletic Conference. In two games last week, the senior stopped 12 shots in shutout wins over Delaware Valley and Cabrini.

Kovalchik, previously named Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Player of the Week, has allowed just two goals and has seven shutouts this season.

She was named Kent State's Athlete of the Week, the Mid-American Conference Field Hockey Player of the Week and the womensfieldhockey.com National Player of the Week.

Creeden made 31 saves in wins over Ohio University (4-3 in double overtime) and the University of North Carolina (2-1 on penalty strokes).

The game against UNC was a classic for Creeden. She made 26 saves, the most by a Kent State goalie since 1996. In the penalty strokes, she stopped three North Carolina shots and connected on the game-winning stroke to propel Kent State to an upset win.

At Syracuse, freshman volleyball player Kristen Conway (Bethlehem Catholic) was named Big East Rookie of the Week.

She helped the Orangewomen (13-6, 2-2) to three wins on the road last weekend, including two Big East wins.

Conway recorded a career-high 25 kills against Seton Hall in a 3-2 win. She committed only six errors on 53 attempts for a .358 attack percentage. The outside hitter collected her fourth career double-double against Rutgers with 13 kills and 16 digs. She leads the Orangewomen with 190 kills.

SPARKLING (EX)SPARTANS

At Wilkes, sophomore fullback Kyle Gallagher (Southern Lehigh) scored a touchdown in a 28-26 win over FDU-Florham. Previously, he had 80 yards rushing on seven carries in a 34-27 loss to Juniata.

On the season, Gallagher has rushed for 134 yards on 21 carries and is averaging 6.4 yards per rushing attempt.

At Shippensburg, senior defensive tackle Chris Minner (Southern Lehigh) had a strong defensive performance in a 41-7 win over Edinboro.

He had five tackles, including three for losses totaling five yards. He also forced a fumble at Ship's 10-yard line and a teammate picked up the loose ball and ran it 90 yards for a touchdown.

THUNDER MAKING NOISE

Thunder Youth Association of the Lehigh Valley is offering a new cross-ice training program for boys and girls in middle school who want to learn to play hockey and improve their skating and skills.

The program is for youth in 5th to 8th grade who have little or no playing experience, but would like to play travel or scholastic hockey. It is also for youth who already play in the middle school league, but would like more ice time to work on skills development.

For information, contact Steve Jennings at 610-807-9343 or e-mail him at smj1@enter.net.